Kagure Bakhrieva stared at the wreckage around, and his mouth parted in a slight gasp. Artix: petrified, appearing to have been guarding someone. Zakkari: dead. Kalas: dead. A shell of Tazaro, 'dead'. There were two unclaimed swords, a red and gold trimmed, and a green and silver trimmed. He picked them both up, examining their build. They'd been crafted well.
Another glint caught his eye, and he turned towards it. He bent down and picked up another trinket: a wedding ring on a silver chain, a torn chain link dangling off of the end. It was a pretty ring, a diamond set into the golden frame, with an encryption engraved on the inside of the band.
Lying on the steps, closer to the busted door, was Sheeva's weapons, melded together to create something that Kagure had to admit, was pretty damn impressive. He picked it up and continued walking inside, blinking to adjust walking into darkness from bright, blinding sunlight.
Painted portraits were looking back at him, talking in a language that he couldn't understand. He stared back at them, amazed, wondering how in Guyana's name this was possible. He took a deep breath, trying to piece it together, and then looked around again as the strong smell of blood hit his nose.
Over in the corner, he noticed another dead body. He didn't recognize the corpse, but stepped forward anyway. Another man looked up at him as he approached from crying into his hands. His skin was dark, and Kagure wondered if maybe he was covered in war-paint, or if he'd been hit by something. He arched an eyebrow and tilted his head in curiosity as he realized that this man's skin was naturally this color.
The man stood, barking something and holding a stick at him, a threatening glare in his eyes. Kagure nodded as he realized, this must be the 'wands' that Sheeva had told him about in her letter four weeks ago. Kagure set down the weapons and held up his hands, the chain with the wedding ring dangling from it. The dark-skinned man noticed, and looked at it, a look of relief spreading across his face. He reached up to take it, but then put his hand back down.
Kagure glanced at it, and held it out. The man snatched it from him hastily and held it close, sighing and closing his eyes, as though it were his life-force, or something to that effect. Kagure smiled at him beneath his wolf-mask and stepped past him, heading for the unknown KIA.
He knelt down, tilting the man's head up to get a better look, and then drew his hand back sharply, shaking it as something shocked him. He stood and took a few steps back, rubbing his hand in alarm.
"Balthazar." He muttered, stunned. One of their demons, here, in the human's realm. This was interesting, yet terrifying at the same time. He wondered how he could have gotten here, and furrowed his brow, staring down at the floor in thought. He shook his head. He'd have to ask Sheeva, wherever she might be.
"Where is Sheeva?" He asked. The man stared at him, pointing the wand back at him again, saying something that Kagure didn't understand. Kagure sighed, and pinched the bridge of the nose on his mask, signaling his irritation. Although, considering the shape the courtyard had been in, the man's actions were understandable.
Kagure pointed at Balthazar, and raised his arms, shrugging his shoulders, trying to mimic a questioning stance repeating the question. The man took a deep breath and turned away, waving his hand at Kagure, motioning him to follow.
He glanced around at the castle, impressed with the foundation. The stairs moved on their own, and Kagure's mouth dropped open again. He chuckled as some of the portraits stared at him, gawking at his mask, robes, and wings.
They turned to a hallway on the fourth floor, and walked on for a few paces. The man stopped, turned around to face him, and pointed into the hospital wing. Kagure nodded his head in appreciation, and walked in. Joseph was asleep in a bed, his head bandaged and his shoulder wrapped. Kagure took a breath of relief. At least one person in the team had survived.
A platinum-blonde, pale-skinned man turned, as did a dark-skinned boy with black hair. Together they stood and guarded the bed's occupant fiercely. Kagure raised his hands, trying to convey that he wasn't here to hurt them.
"Senator Kagure." Sheeva called out, her voice thick with hurt. Kagure relaxed, and so did the two men in front of him. They turned to her, asking her something. She nodded and patted the dark-skinned boy's hand, dismissing the two. They stopped, staring at Kagure. Kagure noticed the green trimmings of the dark-skinned boy's robes, and looked down at the weapons he carried.
He handed the green and silver sword to the boy, who took it gratefully and muttered something that Kagure took to be "Thanks". Kagure nodded back, holding up the other two weapons. The boy that was sitting on Sheeva's lap jumped down and took it from him and walked over to another girls' bed, setting the sword at her feet.
Kagure set Sheeva's weapon at the foot of her bed, the weight of it causing a neat dent in the mattress.
"The swords that belong to your twins, they are wonderfully crafted. Who made them?" Kagure asked, curiosity getting the better of him.
Sheeva smiled and touched Jeffrey's head.
"My son, Jeffrey." She said proudly. She told Jeffrey something when he gave her a confused look at the mention of his name, and then grinned and said "Thanks" to the stranger in the room.
Kagure shrugged off his cowl and draped it over the back of a chair. His black vest was tight against his torso, and a tattoo on his right arm stood out to them. They gawked at the tattoo, admiring it.
"Tazaro is nothing but a shell. I don't understand. What happened, Sheeva?" He began, getting straight to the point. She took a deep breath, and looked at her husbands, saying something to them. Kagure guessed that she'd asked for some privacy, because they nodded slowly and left, the dark-skinned boy taking Jeffrey's hand.
"He was being used, by a demon. I can only guess that he just wanted to see me. Maybe he was misguided. I do not know. However, that is over now. I can only hope that he is now resting in peace." She mused, trying to sit up again. Kagure helped her, and handed her a glass of water. He chuckled as he remembered, this was the way that she used to take care of him as a little kid.
"How did you get here?" She asked, confused. The library was supposed to be sealed off. Kagure sighed.
"I heard about a large portion of campsite disappearing out of the blue in the mountains, and I went to check it out. It seems there's a huge portal to this world through a sinkhole in the valley. If we can't close it, and the wrong people get to it, I don't want to know what is going to happen to this place." He explained. She snapped her head back at him, her mouth dropped open.
"What? Are you serious?" She hissed angrily. He held up a hand to silence her, then pointed, signaling that she was to listen to him. She didn't.
"Block it off. Disconnect it. Do something to get rid of it." She ordered. He growled.
"Sheeva, listen. I have a proposition. I think it's time that these humans of yours knew of our existence, don't you?" He asked. She shook her head strongly.
"You cannot do that. They will be terrified. Their heads will spin with fear. Humans do not embrace change, they fear it. I know from many personal experiences. Very rarely do I find someone that accepts it." She protested. Kagure laughed, and scratched his neck.
"I wasn't saying that we just pop up and say 'hello'! We integrate ourselves slowly. You will be the one to lead us, Sheeva. You've been living here forever. You will have to be our expert." He smirked at her beneath his mask. She blinked, and shook her head. There was already too much on her plate. She didn't want to take anymore.
"Think about it. There's got to be some other reason why Balthazar would take over Tazaro's body. He must have been planning something. It's not adding up." He reasoned. She listened to him, and nodded slowly. If Balthazar really did want to destroy her family, as he'd said, he could have done so easily without using Tazaro.
"Kagure, I have a request. I need your help. My daughter, she used an astral projection spell, and was still in Balthazar's body when he was killed. She is over there. Can you check her status, tell me what you see?" She asked. Kagure nodded and walked over to the woman's bed. She looked a lot like Sheeva, save for very pale skin.
He set the back of his hand on her forehead. Her temperature seemed normal, a little warmer than usual. He formed a few signs and tapped her forehead, and a cloud appeared instead of a hologram of her spirit.
Interesting… he thought, pulling open Nayeli's eye to peer into it, hoping to read her memories to figure out what exactly had happened. He cast another spell, and it bounced back at him, causing him to take a few steps back.
How very interesting. He cocked his head, crossing his arms. This was no normal projection technique.
"What spell did she use, do you know?" He asked, keeping his back to Sheeva as he looked at the strange machine that beeped with the beat of her heart. It was still steady. He took out a pen from his pocket and poked Nayeli's arm with it, watching the line on the monitor. He then tried tickling her inner arm with the tip of the pen.
Still, no change in the heartbeat rate.
No response to external stimuli. My reading spell was ineffective. He tutted, and smirked, intrigued at his conclusion.
"Her spirit is no longer attached to her body. What spell did she use, Sheeva? It's nothing I've ever seen. Brilliant, really." He applauded the mysterious creator, still mystified.
She sighed.
"It is mine. I only use it in certain cases, as it is fatal." She explained. He stopped, and turned back around to face her, finally. She glanced back at his wolf-mask.
"Yet, your daughter is still alive. Physically, at least." He pointed out. Sheeva frowned, and stared at the foot of her bed, at Okami-Shinigami.
"Her spirit is gone. You said so yourself." She whispered, her eyes drooping.
"You can still try to search for it, you know. But if her soul really is gone, there's nothing else that you can do. You'll have to kill her, to set her free from her bonds." Kagure muttered. At this, she closed her eyes, too tired to cry properly. Hot tears slid down her cheeks as she wept. Kagure grabbed a tissue out of a box on the nightstand and dabbed her cheeks with it. She didn't push him away, numb to her surroundings.
She didn't want to feel anymore. She didn't want to think.
She lied back down and pulled the covers up and over her head. Kagure took a deep breath and nodded, standing to leave.
"Think about my proposal, Sheeva. I'll be back in a week. That should be enough time for you to contemplate things." He announced, walking towards the door.
He stuffed his hands in his pockets, mulling things over in his head. He paused, and looked up as he saw two pairs of shoes. Sheeva's husbands were staring back at him, worried expressions on their faces. Kagure smiled at them, although they couldn't see it.
He held out a hand for them to shake it, figuring that if he was going to do this right, he'd have to take things into his own hands. They couldn't keep covering things up anymore, not with a giant sinkhole in the most commonly traveled valley.
"Kagure Bakhrieva." He said, nodding to them. They smiled and shook his hand, noticing that his hands were gloved.
"Draco Malfoy." The platinum-blonde said, eyeing him skeptically. Kagure ignored the stares, figuring that they were due to his concealing outfit.
"Blaise Zabini." The dark-skinned man introduced, a firm handshake. He was also eyeing him, trying not to let it show. Kagure heard a clock chime in the distance, and checked his watch, excusing himself and taking off, hurrying to the front door.
If they were going to set up a guard around the portal, they couldn't waste any time, and he'd already been here long enough.
He formed a seal, and a green aura erupted by the bridge. Kagure sighed in relief. The portal was still open, like he'd hypothesized. He rushed through it, curling up in a ball and closing his eyes as he drifted through the strange void.
Well, what did you think? please review!